Sveinsson wins Texas Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year

(01/15/09) In its third decade of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in partnership with ESPN RISE Magazine, today announced Chelsey Sveinsson of Greenhill School as its 2008-09 Gatorade Texas Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the racecourse, distinguishes Sveinsson as Texas' best high school girls cross country runner. Sveinsson is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade
National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced in January.

The state's returning Gatorade Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year, the 5-foot-6 Sveinnson won the Nike Cross Nationals Final individual championship this past season in 17:26.9, The sophomore also finished fourth at the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships-the only runner in the country to finish in the top five in both national events. Sveinsson also earned victories at the Chile Pepper Festival, the Oklahoma State Cross Country Jamboree, the Flower Mound Invitational and the Southwest Preparatory Conference Championships.

Sveinsson has maintained a 4.06 GPA in the classroom. Also a competitive swimmer, she is a member of the school's choir and its Diversity Club and has volunteered for a local homeless shelter.

'Chelsey has everything," said Greenhill School Head Coach Mike Krueger, "Great discipline, work ethic, focus, amazing talent. She does whatever it takes to run fast. We've always known there was something special about her."

Sveinsson will begin her junior year of high school this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field. The selection process is administered*~~~ RISE Magazine, which works with top sped-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit www.gatorade.com/playeroftheyear.

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